Box-car.



PATENTED OCT. 29,1907.

C. W. GILL.

BOX GAR.

. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 4. 1907.

UNITED STATES CHARLES W. GILL, OF MEXICO, NEW YORK.

BOX-CAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 29, 1907.

Application fil d January 4m 1907. Serial No. 350,801.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known. that I, CHARLES W. GILL, of Mexico, in the county of Oswego, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in lioytlars, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact de scription.

This invention relates to certain improvements in box cars having double-door openings in. one or both sides, and a vertical partition bar for each opening to which the double-doors may be firmly locked in their closed position.

My object is to provide the car with double doors and an opening of substantially the same, or slightly less area than the combined area of the doors, and to divide said opening vertically through its longitudinal center by a removable partition bar which serves as a means of attachment for the meeting edges of the doors when in their closed position, thereby enabling either of the doors to be opened separately without releasing the other door to expose substantially one-half of the main opening, or by unlocking both doors from the partition bar the latter may be swung upwardly and sus tained in a position above the opening inside of the car to expose the full double opening to permit bulky objects to be readily placed into or removed from the car. In other words, I have sought to provide one or both sides of the car with an opening of substantially twice the size of an ordinary car door opening, and to divide such door vertically substantially midway between its ends by a removable partition or jamb so that either half may be opened or closed irrespective of the other half of the opening.

A iurther object is to provide separate closures for each half of the main opening and to mount upon each closure or door a locking device by which each door may be separately locked and sealed irrespective of the other door.

A still further object is to mount the movable partition upon a hanger or guide in such manner that it may be firmly locked in its operative position or swung inwardly and upwardly and held overhead above the door opening without liability of displacement during the action of the car, thereby leaving a clear open space of substantially the area of the combined doors.

In the drawingsFigure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a box car showing the doors open and the partition bar in operative position. Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the car at one side of the partition bar showing particularly the mannor of supporting and locking said bar. Fig. 3 is an inner face View of the upper end of the partition bar and its locking and supporting means. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail sectional views taken respectively on lines 4-4, Fig. 3, and 55, Fig. 2.

In order to demonstrate the practicability of my inl l i l l vention, I have shown a portion of a box car1hav ing in one side an opening 2 which is divided vertically through its longitudinal center by a movable partition -3 forming opposite door openings 1 which are adapted to be closed by sliding doors -5. These doors are slidable back and forth toward and from each other and toward and from the partition bar --3, and for this purpose are suspended upon the track 6 by suitable rollers -7- which are fastened to the upper edges of the door by clips or roller-supporting plates 8, as best seen in Fig. 1, the track -G being, of course, above the door opening 'f and extending laterally a suiiicient distance beyond the opposite ends of the opening to support the doors when they are moved beyond the ends of their respective openings.

The lower edges of the doors extend slightly below the lower edge of the opening 'f and are guided in suitable grooved brackets 10-, there being preferably two of these brackets for each door located in such manner that when the doors are closed one of the brackets for each door is operative to prevent undue outward swing of such door should it become unlocked or loosened, the other bracket being positioned so as to be engaged by the door when it is being openedbefore it disengages from the first named bracket or guide and serves to hold the door against undue swinging when such door is open. In other words, one of the guides 10 is located directly below the door open ing while the other is located in the same plane, but at one side of the opening, and the distance between each pair of guides is less than the width of the door so that the door will always engage one or the other of the guides or brackets in either its closed or open position.

The partition -3- is coextensive in length with the vertical height of the opening and preferably consists of a comparatively narrow partition having its lower end provided with a depending locking member or projection ll which is movable into and out of the socket or clip Il2 fixed to the side 01' the car just below and midway between the ends of the door opening, the main portion of the bar being within the opening and between the door, as 13, and upper edge, as l4, of said opening. The upper end of this partition bar is suspended upon an inwardly projecting guide 15- by means of an eye-bolt -16 which is secured to an illwardly projecting lug *l7 on the upper end of the bar -13, the upper end of said bar being held in its operative position by a double sliding bolt -18 which is guided in suitable ways or bearings l9', and has its upper end movable into and out of similar guides or bearings 20 on the inner side of the lintel oi the car.

The locking bolt 1S is movable vertically and is held in its locked position by a movable detent -2l, as best seen in Figs. 2 and 3, said detent being pivoted at 25 to the same bracket, as -26 of which the bearings 19 are a part.

The bearings -2() are formed upon a separate plate or bracket -26 which is secured to the inner face of the lintel of the door opening and forms a convenient means of attachment for one end of the guide-rod 15 This guide-rod 15 is wholly above the door opening and extends some distance inwardly from the lintel of said opening and is preferably curved upwardly and has its inner end secured to the roof of the car, said guide-rod affording a convenient means for supporting the partition-bar -13 and permitting it to be moved or rocked inwardly, upwardly and laterally, in which position its free end is supported in a suitable hook or bracket '30, best seen in Figs. 3 and 4.

The upper and lower ends of the bar 3- are preferably beveled to allow suflicient clearance between the floor and the lintel to permit the upper end of the bar to be rocked inwardly and upwardly along the guide 15- suil icient to detach the projection l1 on the lower end of said bar from the socket 12, the lower end of said projection being also beveled or curved to facilitate the removal of the bar 3 from its operative position.

When it is desired to displace the bar 3- from the opening the detent -2i is rocked inwardly and downwardly to the dotted position shown in Fig. 2, out of the path of the lower end of the locking bolt '18, whereupon said bolt may drop by gravity, or may be forced downwardly by hand, until disengaged from the keepers or sockets -20. The upper end of the bar may now .be forced by hand, inwardly, the eye 16 riding along the guide rod -.l5, so that the continued inward movement of the upper end of the bar causes the lower end of said bar to be drawn upwardly out of the socket or keeper l2 and when the upper end of the bar is moved inwardly a sufhcient distance to clear the inner side of the lintel such bar may be rocked upwardly toward a horizontal position and its free end engaged with and rested upon the bracket 30, which latter serves to hold said bar above the door opening, leaving a clear open space of substantially the area of both doors.

Mounted upon each door is a rock-shaft 3lwhich is journaled near its ends in suitable bearings 3Z, the ends of said rock-shaft extending beyond the opposite vertical edges of the door to which it is secured and are provided with lateral hook-shape offsets 33.

Each rock-shaft is provided with a vertically mov able and laterally swinging arm -3 lwhich constitutes a clasp having a slot S5 for receiving staples -36 and "37 on the car in a plane below the lower edge of the door.

The inner hook-shape extremities 33 of the rockshafts 3l are adapted to engage apertures -38 in akeeper -3) on the bar 3 so as to lock said doorsin their closed position, and are also adapted to interlock with vertically swinging apertured locking members l0 at the outer sides of the opening 4 in the same plane as the keeper 39 to lock the doors in their closed positions when said doors are moved laterally in opposite directions beyond the openings 4.

The outer hook shape extremities -33- at the outer edges of the doors are adapted to engage and interlock with the swinging members 0- when the doors are closed, and are also adapted to interlock with suitable eyes or keepers -l1 which are secured to the front of the car a distance from the keepers 40 equal to the distance between the hook-shape members 3 of each door. In other words, when each door is closed it lies between the keeper *39 on the bar -3- and one of the movable keepers i0- and by rocking the arm -34 downwardly the hooks 33 are simultaneously engaged with one of the apertures -38 of the keeper 39- and the corresponding swinging keeper 40 at the opposite side of the door opening i, but when the door is moved to its open position it lies between the keepers i0 and 41 so that the inner hook -33- engages the keeper 40* and the outer hook engages the keeper 41 when the arm 34 is rocked downwardly to engage its clasp with the eye -36. It will thus be seen that the aperture -3S in the keeper '39- and its corresponding movable keeper 40 are the same distance apart as the distance between the hooks 33 of the corresponding door so that by rocking the arm 34 downwardly the corresponding door may be locked in either its closed or open position and when the clasp 3t is engaged with the staple 37 a suitable seal or tie is inserted through the staple to lock the clasp in place.

What I claim is 1. A box car having a door opening, an inwardly projecting guide, above said opening, a vertical removable partition bar having sliding engagement with said guide and dividing said opening substantially midway between its ends forming two door openings, doors slidable across said openings to and from the bar and means to lock the doors to said bar.

2. In a box car having an opening in one side, a partition bar hinged above the opening and dividing said open ing substantially midway between its ends forming two doorppenings, doors slidable across said openings to and from the bar, means to lock the doors to the partition bar, and movable means for locking the partition-bar in operative position.

.5. A box car having an opening in one side, keepers above and beneath the central portion of the opening and secured to the car, a removable partition bar detachably interlocked with the keepers and dividing the opening substantially midway between its ends, doors movable across the opposite ends 01 the opening to and from the partition bar, and means to lock the doors in their closed position.

4. A box car having an opening in one side, a removable partition bar dividing the opening between its ends forming smaller door openings, movable means for locking the partition bar to the car, doors movable across opposite ends of the opening to and from the partition bar, movable locking elements on the doors and a keeper on the partition bar adapted to be engaged by said locking elements for holding the doors in their closed position, and additional keepers on the car at opposite sides of the opening adapted to be engaged by said locking element to hold the door in its open position.

A box car having an opening in one side, a guide in the ear above the opening, a partition bar having its upper end movable along said guide and its lower end adapted to be interlocked with the car below the opening, said par titlon bar being hinged upon the guide to swing laterally above the opening, and means on the interior to support the free end of the partition bar when swung to its upper position.

6. A box car having an opening in one side, keepers secured to the car above and beneath the opening, a partition bar having its lower end detuchably interlocked with the lower keeper, movable means on the upper end of the bar detachably interlocked with the upper keeper Whereby the partition bar may be firmly held in operative position or removed, doors movable across the opposite ends of said opening to and from the partition bar, and each provided with a movable locking member and a keeper on the bar adapted to be engaged by said locking members on the doors.

7. A box car having an opening in one side, keepers above and beneath the central portion of the opening, :1 partition bar having its lower end detnchably engaged with the lower keeper, a movable locking member on the upper end of the bar detachably engaged with the upper keeper, a guide extending inwardly and upwardly from the lintel of the opening, an eye attached to the upper end of the bar and receiving said guide, whereby when the bar is disengaged from its keepers it may he moved inwardly and rocked laterally and upwardly to a substantial horizontal position, and means for holding the bar in its np-position.

S. A box car having an opening in one side, doors movable across opposite ends of the opening, separately movable locking members on said doors, a partition bar at the meeting edges of the doors when closed and provided with a keeper adapted to be engaged by said locking members,

l l l and movable members for locking the bar in operative position.

0. A box car having an opening in one side, a removable partition midway between the ends of the opening, movable means for locking the bar in its operative position,

a track above the opening, doors supported upon and mov able along said track to and lrom the partition bar, brackets secured to the ear in a plane below the opening and provided with grooves in their upper faces of greater transverse width than the thickness of the lower edges of the doors which ride in said grooves to allow either door to be swung outwardly a limited distance, and means to lock the doors to the partition barn In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this twenlyninlh day of December 1906.

CHARLES W. (llllll. Witnesses Gnome M. BENNETT, Jenn C. TAYLOR. 

